History would not remember Ripley Prior.

Menu

sci-fi

R.F. Hurteau was a featured author in March’s issue of Uncaged Book Reviews! If you’d like to read the interview and review, plus an exclusive excerpt, check it out here! We’re on page 70, but there’s a lot of other great interviews and reviews in there to check out, too.

I was really excited to get the opportunity to work with Cyrene & Co at Uncaged, and look forward to sending them future installments!

Maybe it’s nice when you start. A clean slate. Or maybe it’s messy. Ideas can be messy. Most of mine are.

Then your idea begins to form into something more solid. A foundation, a framework.

But your story is only just beginning.

You begin to flesh it out. Give it walls, boundaries. Fashion a world with defined endings…but infinite possibilities.

It starts out a little rough. The future seems uncertain.

And sometimes it might seem like the story is heading in the wrong direction.

You make hard choices. Do you trust your first instinct? Do you change directions? Let a character fade out of existence or power through to see how they develop?

Fitting together different aspects, completely disjointed, might seem like a daunting task.

But it all works out in the end.

And as you add in the tiny details that make the story come alive, it will become something awesome. Something worth sharing.

This little space might not seem like much, but it’s mine. A cozy nook to go and write stories, create worlds, and talk to imaginary characters. I so look forward to adding the details to it as time goes on. But for now, it’s time to write!

In the not so distant future, mankind has been brought to the brink of extinction…and to the brink of the world. Ripley Prior, our protagonist, is a mid-level, pencil-pushing worker in Sigil, the authoritarian power that rules over Santuary, a domed city located in Antarctica.

Ripley has always dreamed of being an Engineer, but it wasn’t meant to be. Those jobs are always reserved for the Elves, who have the longevity and know-how to run the city without the need for the help of Human wannabes. Day after day, he records numbers from vital system gauges, wishing he had the ability to do more with his life.

Ripley’s best friend, Felix, is an unmotivated Halfsie (half-Human, half-Elf). He’s the one who is always stirring up trouble, which inevitably involves Ripley. But when our story begins, his benign shenanigans give way to something much more ambitious…

Perhaps you were drawn here by the desire to learn more about the Antiquity’s Gate series, and found yourself disappointed by the whimsical musings of the author, instead. Don’t worry, my friend. Read on, and slake your thirst for knowledge at the fount.

At the edge of the world, the last stronghold of mankind holds silent vigil, a forgotten sentinel in the shadow of the Transantarctic mountains. For one hundred and twenty-five years, it has stood, while an increasingly dystopian hierarchy has formed bitter divides among its citizens.

The Theran people who came through Antiquity’s Gate are hiding something. The tense relations between the last of humanity and these mysterious outsiders threaten the fragile bonds that have been holding their community together. When the very rules enacted to safeguard survival bring heartache to the lives of two unlikely friends, it is up to them to find a way to escape from Sanctuary…but their actions may have devastating consequences.

Do you have any pet peeves? Of course you do. It’s okay to admit it–we all do.

One of the things I feel strongly about when I write is a character’s drive. When I am reading a story, there are certain things I can let slide. If it’s a good read, I can look past a few weak plot points. I can push through an introduction that doesn’t move me, giving it a chance to pick up later on. I can slog through those chapters, you know the ones. Full of explanatory dialogue, as if the author couldn’t trust his or her readers to pick up the subtle hints along the way, and felt the need to lay it all out, effectively killing the book’s replay value.

But one thing that just makes me sad is a book with a strong premise and flat characters. It feels like so much wasted potential. If you can’t relate, can’t connect, can’t feel what the characters are feeling, then what is it that keeps you reading? I want to know what drives the characters. What motivates them to do–or not do–certain things. What is their passion, and in what ways does it affect the flow of the plot? I like characters that become so real, so alive, that I feel as though they could walk into the room, and we could sit down and have a conversation like old friends. Or even, perhaps, mortal enemies.

What are the things that you look for in a story? Is it the fresh, unpredictable plot that keeps you turning the pages? Do you live for the adrenaline rush that accompanies a long-awaited climax? Is it description so lush, that you can close your eyes and effortlessly transport yourself to that fictional land? Or are you like me, driven by driven characters? Whatever it is that makes you passionate about reading, ultimately we all want the same thing. A story that’s memorable and moving. And that is a noble goal, indeed.

It was raining, that first day at the library. Sheets of water poured down the panes of glass, obscuring my view of the swollen river just beyond the parking lot. The chair was comfortable, and a warm coffee kept me company as I absent-mindedly chewed on the end of my (very expensive!) Apple Pencil. The first scene was so simple to write. It had been written for a long time, but had never been put to paper. I knew exactly how it would end, too. But would everything in between be up to snuff?

What began as a short story quickly outgrew the mold into which I had hoped to place it. As the story progressed, the world became larger. The background, lore, and plot lines blossomed into an impressive array of colorful sticky notes that adorned my bedroom wall. The more I wrote, the more the characters came alive. In the end, the dialogue practically wrote itself. This novel is actually two parts, comprised of Book One; Crossing the Rubicon, and Book Two; Through a Mirror, Darkly. It is the first in a series, and while I slog through the tedious stages of editing, arguing with my husband over the necessity of commas after conjunctive adverbs, I have already begun crafting the next novel. I cannot wait to share my work with you!

Dear friends, where shall we begin? At the beginning? It’s a long story. How long do you have? Perhaps another time, then.

Do you have children? Do you remember life before them? For me, I remember it as if it were a dream. It’s a little hazy. I’m certain it happened. I can remember specifics, I have some fond memories, and some sad ones. But to really think about it, to really imagine life before these little people even existed, that’s more difficult now. From the first moment you become a parent, it’s as if they’ve always been there. As if they’ve always been a part of you. A piece of the puzzle that had been hiding under the couch, which once found completed a picture that you didn’t even know you’d been creating. Sure, you had a general idea. You’d placed all the edges, painstakingly put all the pieces right side up, pressed them together in faith, with nothing more than a promise of the vision they would reveal. And yet, even if the picture seemed clear without that piece, once it has been set into place, that is when you are able to see it as it was truly intended to be.

Writing a story, breathing life into the characters, is a lot like that, too. There are certainly similarities. The same thing happens when you read a book that really resonates with you. The characters, the world, the adventures…once they’re there, once you’ve written it down or read it, you can’t unread it. They will always be with you, forever a part of you. Think of your favorite story. Can you remember a time before you had been to Mordor and back again with Frodo and Sam? Before sneaking through the wardrobe with Lucy into the wondrous land of Narnia? Before you loved to hate Professor Snape? The stories that we read become a part of us, a thread in the tapestry of our lives. They can make us feel deeply, and run our emotions through the ringer.

I hope you enjoy reading Antiquity’s Gate as much as I am enjoying writing it. Thank you for sharing this adventure with me!